Nigeria: Overseas Aid

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what additional aid he plans to make available for the Independent Electoral Commission in Nigeria to deal with the additional workload since the election in that country.

Hilary Benn: It is too early to make any significant decision on how DFID's programme in Nigeria should be adjusted in response to the elections. Due to the problems encountered, additional elections were being held in many parts of the country on 28 April. Currently all sides are reflecting upon the electoral process and the results as these are returned.
	However, we are also reviewing our support for the electoral process, including our support to Independent Nigeria Electoral Commission (INEC). DFID provided £2.5 million of support to a Joint Donor Basket Fund managed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The other donors are the European Union and Canadian CIDA. The majority of the joint funding was notionally allocated to INEC. But INEC has consistently turned down donor offers of technical support, so spending has been lower than anticipated.
	Given the events of the last three weeks, the UNDP are now doing a stock-take on our joint support to INEC. We are expecting proposals early this week on how we can best wrap-up our existing programme of support for INEC. After this, there will also be a review of lessons and a priority for the coming few months will be to reach a consensus in Nigeria how best INEC can be supported in future. In addition, we will be undertaking joint analysis on the wider aspects of political governance which need to be addressed in order for 2011 elections to be an improvement on those of 2007.

Palestinians: Sanctions

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact of banking sanctions on conditions of life in the Palestinian territories; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: Since Hamas formed a Palestinian government in March 2006, international banks dealing with the Palestinian Authority (PA) have risked litigation under US anti-terrorism laws. One result of this has been that the PA's single treasury account has been frozen. This has undermined important progress made over recent years to improve public financial accountability and control.
	Although this situation has made it harder to transfer money to the PA, the PA has been able to continue spending the limited funds it has available. DFID and other donors have also continued and increased aid to help meet the basic needs of Palestinians through other channels. For example, European Union (community and member states) aid is estimated to have increased by 27 per cent. in 2007, compared to 2006. This has partially offset the impact on Palestinian livelihoods of Israel's decision to withhold clearance revenues due to the PA.
	DFID is providing technical assistance to the Palestinian Monetary Authority to help ensure that Palestinian banks are able to meet international standards for tackling terrorist financing and money laundering.

Revenue and Customs: Publicity

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many click throughs from HM Revenue and Customs online advertisements to the HM Revenue and Customs website have been recorded as part of the online aspect of the Tax doesn't have to be taxing campaign since its launch.

John Healey: As at end of March 2007 1,151,339 click throughs from HM Revenue and Customs online advertisements to the HM Revenue and Customs website have been recorded as part of the online aspect of the 'Tax doesn't have to be taxing' campaign.

Taxation: Overseas Residence

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many people claimed non-domicile tax status in the UK in each of the last five years for which records are available;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the tax forgone by the UK as a consequence of use of the remittance basis by those not domiciled in the UK;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the average length of residence in the UK of those claiming non-domicile status;
	(4)  what methodology is used to estimate the economic benefits to the UK from the retention of the domicile laws on taxation;
	(5)  what estimates he has made of the economic benefits to the UK from the retention of the domicile laws on taxation;
	(6)  what investigations have been carried out looking into non-domicile status in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  how many people qualified for non-domicile tax treatment in the UK in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of non-domiciled residence tax status; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: No overall figure for the number of individuals with non-domicile tax status is available.
	Estimates of the tax foregone in the UK as a consequence of the use of the remittance basis by those not domiciled in the UK are not routinely made. Information is not held on overseas income and gains that do not give rise to a tax liability in the UK.
	Information on the average length of residence is not routinely collected. A small sample survey in 2004 suggested that the majority of non-domiciled individuals who had already left the UK spent no more than five years here.
	No estimates have been made of the economic benefits to the UK from the retention of the domicile laws on taxation.
	HMRC carry out investigations into non-domiciled status where this may be relevant to a taxpayer's UK tax liability. Such investigations may occur to verify information given to HMRC by individuals completing self-assessment tax returns or making other claims for non-domicile status; as a result of third-party disclosure; or because of the outcome of other HMRC enquiries. No information is available on the number of investigations undertaken.
	Information on how many individuals qualify for non-domicile tax treatment in the UK is not available. 112,000 individuals indicated non-domicile tax status through their SA returns in 2004-05.

National Lottery: Charities

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the eligibility criteria are for registered charitable organisations to receive Lottery funding; and which charitable institutions are ineligible.

Richard Caborn: Almost any organisation in the United Kingdom, including registered charities, can apply for lottery funding for projects which are not intended primarily for private gain and for which funds would be unlikely to be made available by Government or the devolved administrations.
	Under the National Lottery Act 2006, "charitable expenditure", in relation to expenditure under the charitable, health, education and environment good cause, means expenditure for a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose. Such expenditure is not restricted to registered charities, which are able to benefit from all the lottery good causes.
	However, each of the lottery distributing bodies publishes specific eligibility criteria for each of its funding programmes, and applicant organisations must comply with these.

Office of Communications

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how she plans the Ofcom public services publisher service to be funded.

Shaun Woodward: holding answer 27 April 2007
	Ofcom published its discussion document into the potential role of the Public Service Publisher (PSP) in January and asked for comments by the end of March. At present they are reviewing those responses with a view to publishing a summary later in 2007.
	While we believe the proposal for the PSP has stimulated a healthy debate it remains too early to make a wider Government response to the PSP proposal.

Olympic Games: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how she expects Essex to participate in the Cultural Olympiad initiative.

David Lammy: The Cultural Olympiad has been designed in such a way that creative and cultural organisations at all levels, from the largest national bodies to the smallest community groups, can participate. We are working with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to deliver this.
	The Nations and Regions are developing plans to maximise the benefit of the London Games to all parts of the UK. In addition, I have recently announced that a network of Regional Creative Programmers in eight of the English Regions is to be established. Their role will contribute to the delivery of cultural events in all the regions in the run up to and during the 2012 Games.
	The Greater London Authority is also developing proposals on how to co-ordinate and deliver a pan-London cultural programme.

Olympic Games: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures are being taken by her Department to ensure that the 2012 Olympic Games is a drug-free event.

Richard Caborn: The Department sponsors UK Sport, the UK's National Anti-Doping Organisation, which is responsible for delivering the UK's national anti-doping programme. In the run-up to the 2012 Games, UK Sport will continue to deliver its anti-doping programme for all Olympic and Paralympic sports.
	The Chief Medical Officer at the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG), who was appointed in February, is responsible for the anti-doping programme during the 2012 Games, under delegation from the International Olympic Committee.
	In light of this appointment, LOCOG has begun work on arrangements for the testing programme, and will continue to do so in collaboration with UK Sport and DCMS.

Public Libraries: Kent

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with Kent county council on redundancies in its library service.

David Lammy: holding answer 27 April 2007
	None. Staffing of libraries and library authorities is a matter for local authorities to decide, after considering available resources and local priorities, providing it does not affect the authority's ability to deliver a 'comprehensive and efficient' library service to the public as required under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.

Public Service Broadcasting: Children

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the regulatory requirements are for each public service broadcaster in relation to children's television; and if she will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: Section 264 of the Communications Act 2003 requires Ofcom to regularly review and report on the extent to which public service broadcasters fulfil the purposes of public service television, including the provision (when the services are taken together) of a "suitable quantity and range of high quality and original programmes for children and young people".
	Public service broadcasters are required to consult Ofcom on proposals for significant changes in their statements of programme policy.

Sudan: Peace Keeping Operations

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what steps her Department is taking to reach agreement on the proposed deployment of 20,000 UN peacekeeping troops in the Darfur region of Sudan; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to facilitate Stage 3 of the agreement between the government of Sudan and the United Nations; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary chaired an informal meeting of the UN Security Council on 16 April which welcomed the Sudanese government's agreement to the UN's Heavy Support Package (the second stage of the agreement between the UN and the Government of Sudan). We are pressing them to agree to a joint African Union (AU)/UN Hybrid Force (the third stage). If the Sudanese government and rebels do not co-operate, we will move to tougher sanctions.
	We have seconded staff into the UN's Department of Peace Keeping Operations and are supporting their work through political lobbying. We are also a major contributor to the AU Mission in Sudan to keep it going until a joint AU/UN Hybrid Force can be deployed.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has  (a) made to and  (b) received from the government of Sudan and the government of South Sudan on the implementation of the revenue sharing commitments made in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Ian McCartney: We continue to urge the joint North/South Government of National Unity to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in full. This was a key message for our intervention at the Sudan Consortium in Khartoum (19-21 March). The UK is also a member of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission (AEC). The AEC is tasked with monitoring CPA implementation and has four sub groups including one focused on wealth sharing. It is the main mechanism for dialogue between the international community and the CPA parties, and meets every month. We also engage both parties regularly on all elements of CPA implementation, including wealth sharing, through our bilateral representation in Khartoum and Juba.
	On wealth sharing, I note that over US$1.8 billion of national oil revenue has been transferred to the Government of Southern Sudan. The Fiscal and Financial Monitoring and Allocation Commission has also begun work on determining the division of revenues between the different tiers of government. But much more needs to be done.

Turkey: Ethnic Groups

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports she has received on persecution of the Christian minority in Turkey.

Geoff Hoon: Our Embassy in Ankara reports regularly on human rights, including freedom of religion. We also receive reports from the European Commission and other international organisations. We are aware of attacks affecting Christian minority groups, including the murder of Father Andrea Santoro, a Catholic priest, in February 2006 and the attack on 18 April on three Christians at a publishing house in Malatya.
	The Turkish government has strongly condemned this recent attack and we continue to urge them to keep up momentum in human rights reforms and encourage them to ensure implementation of EU standards is full and consistent, this of course includes freedom of religion.

Departments: Planning

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps are taken by his Department to include  (a) older people and  (b) people with disabilities in strategic planning, policy making and the delivery of the services they use.

Anne McGuire: The Government's strategy on older people and ageing, 'Opportunity Age', was first published in March 2005. A series of consultation events at which the views and ideas of older people were sought has been invaluable in shaping that strategy.
	DWP is piloting a 'LinkAge Plus' programme, to test ways of building fully integrated services from health and benefits to leisure and learning. Eight pilots (led by local authorities) have been looking at ways of joining up government for older people. LinkAge Plus puts older people at the heart of the process in identifying effective models that meet their needs and aspirations and involves them in their design.
	DWP also sponsors 'Better Government for Older People', comprising approximately 200 voluntary elected members from older people's forums and groups across the UK, which works to reflect the views of older people in policy making.
	DWP engages in a range of ongoing involvement activities with disabled people to ensure that their needs and views are reflected in both policy making and service delivery. These are outlined in our disability equality schemes published on 1 December 2006.
	The Department sponsored the creation of Equality 2025, a new non-departmental public body providing a mechanism through which disabled people can have direct communication with central Government to influence, at an early stage, Government policies and service delivery that affect disabled people's lives.
	We also consult with disabled people to obtain their feedback on new policy proposals or changes as part of our diversity impact assessment process. The findings from such consultation help to influence the final decision on those proposals or changes.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Gloucester

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in  (a) Cheltenham and  (b) all Gloucester constituencies in each month since March (i) without seasonal adjustment and (ii) seasonally adjusted.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the table; March 2007 is the most recent available information. Seasonally adjusted figures are not available at constituency level.
	
		
			  Jobseeker's allowance claimants in Gloucestershire parliamentary constituencies, without seasonal adjustment: March 2007 
			  Constituency  Claimants 
			 Cheltenham 1,443 
			 Cotswold 523 
			 Forest of Dean 937 
			 Gloucester 1,594 
			 Stroud 731 
			 Tewkesbury 684 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are unrounded. 2. Figures include clerically held cases.  Source: 100 per cent. count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems.

New Deal Schemes: Unemployment

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact of the new deal on unemployment; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 23 April 2007
	 Since 1997, claimant unemployment has fallen by 708,000 and the number of people on lone parent benefits has fallen by 230,000. We are also spending £5 billion less on unemployment than we did in 1997.
	The new deal, which has helped more than 1.7 million people into work since January 1998, has contributed to this success. It has helped reduce long term claimant unemployment to close to its lowest for 30 years and to significantly reduce long term youth claimant unemployment.

Pensions

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the size of savings needed to buy an annuity for  (a) a single worker and  (b) a married couple to ensure a pension income that takes them above pension credit eligibility.

James Purnell: The size of annuity required to take an individual above pension credit eligibility depends on a wide range of factors. This includes the type of annuity an individual purchases, their entitlement to basic and addition state pension, and any additional needs they may have which affect pension credit entitlement. It also depends on whether their pension will take them above pension credit eligibility at the point of retirement or over their expected lifetime and whether their pension will take them above guarantee credit only or savings credit.
	Under our proposed pension reforms someone retiring in 2053 with a good contribution record (through working or caring) could expect to receive around £135 per week from the state pension on retirement (in 2005-06 earnings terms). This is—for a single person—above the end point of pension credit. Couples with good contribution records will be substantially above the end point for pension credit.
	Only those on the guarantee credit only will face pound for pound withdrawal on private saving. Someone with around 25 years of working or caring retiring in 2050 will have accrued enough state pension to bring them above the guarantee credit only. Our analysis suggests that in 2050 around 6 per cent. of all pensioners will be eligible for guarantee credit only, and only around one in 50 pensioners will retire directly onto guarantee credit only. In addition, those with small amounts of savings will be able to take them as a lump sum under the trivial commutation rules.

Sick Leave

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of incapacity benefit claimants returned to work within  (a) two weeks,  (b) one month,  (c) three months and  (d) six months in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The latest Destination of Benefit Leavers Survey (2004) suggests 50 per cent. of incapacity benefits leavers returned to work of 16 hours or more in that year, higher than reported in the previous year.
	The Destination of Benefit Leavers Survey also provides the following breakdown for those leaving incapacity benefits for work, by benefit duration.
	
		
			  IB claim duration (weeks)  Percentage returned to/starting work of 16 hours or more 
			 0-13 67 
			 13-26 61 
			 26-52 46 
			 52+ 40 
			  Notes: 1. Incapacity benefits include, contributory incapacity benefit and income support for the sick and disabled. 2. 'Leavers' excludes those leaving as a result of death.  Source: DWP Destination of Benefit Leavers 2004. Research Report no. 244

Social Security Benefits

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the name of each benefit administered by his Department was in each year since 1996-97; what the level of each benefit was in each year; what the total amount paid in each benefit was in each year; what proportion of the total paid in each year was means-tested; and what the cost of administering each payment was in each year.

James Plaskitt: The name of each benefit administered by the Department, and the total amount paid in each benefit in each year, since 1996-97, can be found in benefit expenditure tables on the Department for Work and Pensions website at the following address:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/medium_term.asp.
	The benefit names are listed in column A of table 3. Annual amounts paid in each benefit are listed from 1996-97 (column H) to 2007-08 (column S). All figures are outturn, apart from 2006-07, which are estimated outturn, and 2007-08, which are planned expenditure. The figures in table 3 are in cash terms and are rounded to the nearest million pounds. Expenditure at 2007-08 prices can be found in table 4, which is laid out exactly the same as table 3.
	There are notes attached to each internet table, but the following particular points should be noted:
	1. Responsibility for child benefit, guardians allowance and child's special allowance transferred to Inland Revenue, now HM Revenue and Customs, in April 2003.
	2. Responsibility for war pensions transferred to the Veterans Agency in 2002-03.
	The amount paid for each benefit in each year, in other words weekly benefit rates, are published each year in Statutory Instruments, as Social Security Benefits Up-rating Orders, which will be in the House of Commons Library and can be found on the Office for Public Sector Information website at the following addresses:
	1996: SI 559 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1996/Uksi_19960599_en_l.htm
	1997: SI 543 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1997/19970543.htm
	1998: SI 470 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1998/19980470.htm
	1999: SI 341 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/19990341.htm
	2000: SI 440 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2000/20000440.htm
	2001: SI 207 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2001/20010207.htm
	2002: SI 668 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/20020668.htm
	2003: SI 526 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20030526.htm
	2004: SI 552 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2004/20040552.htm
	2005: SI 522 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20050522.htm
	2006: SI 645 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20060645.htm
	2007: SI 688 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/20070688.htm
	Some other useful information about weekly benefit rates can be found on pages 50 to 74 of the 2005 edition of the Abstract of Statistics for Benefits, National Insurance Contributions, and Indices of Prices and Earnings, and on pages 101 to 191 of the 2004 edition of Work and Pensions Statistics (now discontinued) which can be located at the following internet addresses:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/abstract/Abstract2005.pdf
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/workandpens/2004/lndividual_Benefit_Statistics.pdf
	The proportion of the total paid in each year that was means tested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Means tested proportion of total benefit paid in each year (percentage) 
			 1996-97 35.2 
			 1997-98 33.9 
			 1998-99 32.7 
			 1999-2000 31.0 
			 2000-01 29.3 
			 2001-02 29.0 
			 2002-03 29.3 
			 2003-04 31.5 
			 2004-05 31.5 
			 2005-06 30.8 
			 2006-07 31.1 
			 2007-08 30.7 
		
	
	These percentages have been calculated using information in benefit expenditure table 3.
	Full information about the cost of administering each payment in each year is not available.
	From 1999-2000 the cost of administration is accounted for separately within the departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and the information requested on administration costs at benefit level is not available.
	Information on administrative costs prior to the creation of DWP in 2001 is not comparable to administrative costs now due to considerable organisational change.
	The available information, which is at benefit level, is in the following tables:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Cash (i)  1996-97  1997-98  1998-99 
			  Contributory benefits (paid from the National Insurance Fund)   
			 Retirement Pension 303 312 314 
			 Widow's benefits 15 12 8 
			 Unemployment Benefit (ii) 95 — — 
			 Incapacity Benefit 365 294 375 
			 Jobseeker's Allowance (contribution based) 57 63 51 
			
			  Non-contributory benefits (paid from voted money)   
			 War Pensions 42 39 32 
			 Attendance Allowance 82 76 75 
			 Disability Living Allowance 147 164 119 
			 Severe Disablement Allowance 36 42 43 
			 
			 Income Support — 717 581 
			 excluding the unemployed—12 months 877 — — 
			 unemployed only—6 months 209 — — 
			 
			 Jobseeker's Allowance (income based) 315 452 330 
			 Child Benefit and One Parent Benefit 133 133 125 
			 Family Credit 66 59 72 
			 Social Fund 180 161 215 
			 Invalid Care Allowance 30 27 34 
			 Housing Benefit (iii) 312 328 350 
			 Council Tax Benefit (iii) 182 180 175 
		
	
	
		
			  £ million 
			  2007-08 prices (i)  1996-97  1997-98  1998-99 
			  Contributory benefits (paid from the National Insurance Fund)   
			 Retirement Pension 396 396 389 
			 Widow's benefits 20 15 10 
			 Unemployment Benefit (ii) 124 — — 
			 Incapacity Benefit 477 373 464 
			 Jobseeker's Allowance (contribution based) 74 80 63 
			
			  Non-contributory benefits (paid from voted money)   
			 War Pensions 55 50 40 
			 Attendance Allowance 107 97 93 
			 Disability Living Allowance 192 208 147 
			 Severe Disablement Allowance 47 53 53 
			 
			 Income Support — 911 720 
			 excluding the unemployed—12 months 1,146 — — 
			 unemployed only—6 months 273 — — 
			 
			 Jobseeker's Allowance (income based) 412 574 409 
			 Child Benefit and One Parent Benefit 174 169 155 
			 Family Credit 86 75 89 
			 Social Fund 235 204 266 
			 Invalid Care Allowance 39 34 42 
			 Housing Benefit (iii) 408 417 433 
			 Council Tax Benefit (iii) 238 229 217 
			  Notes:  1. Costs shown represent the total estimated costs to Government, Department of Social Security and other Departments of administering Social Security benefits.  2. Includes the cost of administering national insurance credits for clients who do not receive any social security benefit.  3. Costs quoted are local authority costs. Central Government costs are allocated to income support.  4. Figures have been rounded to the nearest million pounds.  5. The information has been taken from the 1998, 1999 and 2000 Department for Social Security departmental reports. The information requested is only available to 1998-99.  6. Figures have been converted to 2007-08 prices using GDP deflators issued by HM Treasury following the Budget report 2007.

State Retirement Pensions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the total volume of deficit repair contributions made in each of the last five years.

James Purnell: The PPF collects information on deficit reduction payments made by schemes in order to reduce the amount of risk-based levy they are liable to pay. As the PPF has only been in operation since April 2005, information on such deficit reduction payments is not available for each of the last five years.
	Such information as is available was published in the Purple Book (http://www.ppf.gov.uk/the_purple_book_ppf-tpr.pdf)
	"Schemes in the sample had certified approximately £9.8bn of special contributions to reduce deficits by 7 April 2006. These contributions were certified to the Pension Protection Fund for the purpose of enabling a more up-to-date assessment to be made of the scheme funding position, with the extra contributions increasing the scheme assets and so reducing the risk-based levy."
	Figures for deficit reduction payments in 2006-07 are not yet available.

Police: Street Patrols

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of time police officers spend patrolling the streets.

Tony McNulty: 63 per cent. of officer time was spent on frontline activities in 2005-06. 14 per cent. of officer time was spent on patrol.
	Other frontline activities not captured by the definition of 'patrol' include arrests, dealing with incidents, gathering intelligence, responding to 999 calls, carrying out searches, dealing with informants, and interviewing suspects, victims and witnesses.

Police Training Days

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the cost of training days in the police work force owing to the introduction of new legislation.

Tony McNulty: The consequences of any new legislation in terms of training is generally a matter for police forces to determine, although some police training is delivered nationally through what is now the National Policing Improvement Agency.
	In terms of force costs these will vary dependent upon the local impact of legislation, each force making an assessment of its own training needs and requirements. It is also important to note that law based or legislative police training (except when an officer joins the police service) remains a relatively small proportion of their training needs.
	Accordingly, policing costs for new training as a result of legislation will vary from police area to area. There are therefore no estimates of the cost of police training specifically as a consequence of new legislation.

Violent Crime

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of measures to combat violent crime.

Vernon Coaker: The Government are taking forward a full range of work to tackle violent crime. This has included introducing new legislation; providing intensive support to practitioners in those areas which face the biggest challenges in terms of violent crime; and developing a range of measures to reduce sexual and domestic violence re-offending.
	We consider that a 34 per cent. fall in BCS violent crime since 1997 is testament to the effectiveness of these measures, and we will continue to focus our efforts to bring down the level of these serious crimes even further.

Antisocial Behaviour

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to hold another Anti-social Behaviour Day Count.

Tony McNulty: There are no current plans to hold another national antisocial behaviour day count.
	Since the 2003 day count, a number of new ways of measuring performance have been introduced. The focus is now on the perception of antisocial behaviour rather than specific incident counting, which is subject to severe under-reporting. As such these measures supersede the need for a specific "one day" antisocial behaviour incident count.
	The perception of antisocial behaviour is monitored nationally through the British Crime Survey (BCS) and at a local level through the Local Government User Satisfaction Survey (LGUSS). In addition a survey of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) is conducted on a quarterly basis to monitor at a local level, the uptake and use of a number of tools and powers used to tackle antisocial behaviour, such as acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs), demotion orders and housing injunctions.

Crime: Macclesfield

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the recorded crime figures for the Macclesfield borough in the Cheshire Constabulary East Division were in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07 according to the classifications (i) all crime, (ii) burglary of a dwelling, (iii) violent crime, (iv) vehicle crime and (v) criminal damage; and what assessment he has made of the trends in these statistics.

Vernon Coaker: The statistics are not available in the form requested as data for 2006-07 will not be available until 19 July 2007. Statistics for 2005-06 are in the table together with the percentage change from the previous year.
	
		
			  Offences recorded in the Macclesfield crime and disorder reduction partnership area 
			   2005-06  Percentage change from previous year 
			 Total crime 11,719 1.4 
			 Burglary in a dwelling 679 -6.7 
			 Violent crime 2,319 16.6 
			 Vehicle crime 1,750 14.5 
			 Criminal damage 2,692 -8.2

Electronic Tags

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders reoffended whilst wearing electronic tags in each year since their introduction; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The following table sets out the number of offenders, who have been cautioned, convicted or are awaiting prosecution for offences while they were subject to the home detention curfew scheme, as currently notified to the National Offender Management Service.
	The totals for 2005-06 have been updated following a cross checking of reoffending data from the Police National Computer for the third and fourth quarters of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006.
	Some of those awaiting prosecution will be found not guilty or charges will be dropped.
	Information is not collected on further convictions for offenders subject to other electronic monitoring schemes apart from home detention curfew.
	
		
			  Number of offenders cautioned, convicted or awaiting prosecution for an offence committed while they were subject to the home detention curfew scheme 
			   Number 
			 1999 71 
			 1999-2000 294 
			 2000-01 244 
			 2001-02 208 
			 2002-03 584 
			 2003-04 1,298 
			 2004-05 1,311 
			 2005-06 1,214

Fixed Penalties

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many penalty notices for disorder were issued for  (a) theft,  (b) criminal damage,  (c) being drunk and disorderly and  (d) dropping litter in each month since November 2004.

Vernon Coaker: Penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) rolled-out to all police forces in England and Wales under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. Under the scheme, the police can issue a fixed penalty of £50 or £80 for a specified range of disorder offences including shop theft (under £200) and criminal damage (under £500).
	Data on the number of PND's (penalty notice for disorder) issued for the specified offence for each month since November 2004 are provided in the tables. The data for 2006 is provisional. Finalised data for 2006 will be available this summer.
	The figures show that the PND has been an increasingly useful disposal option for the police in tackling low-level antisocial behaviour, providing them with a simple, non-bureaucratic financial punishment for first-time offenders.
	
		
			  Number of penalty notices for disorder issued to persons aged 16 and over for selected offences by month, November 2004 to December 2006( 1,2) 
			  Offence   Total  Jan uary  Feb ruary  Mar ch  Apr il  May  Jun e 
			 Drunk and disorderly 2004 6,154 — — — — — — 
			  2005 37,038 2,842 2,732 2,779 2,860 2,927 2,551 
			  2006(1) 42,308 3,101 3,090 3,073 3,696 3,515 3,503 
			  
			 Criminal Damage (under £500) 2004 1,103 — — — — — — 
			  2005 12,168 813 754 786 906 982 990 
			  2006(1) 19,654 1,505 1,377 1,312 1,562 1,584 1,710 
			  
			 Theft (retail under £200) 2004 2,018 — — — — — — 
			  2005 21,997 1,286 1,309 1,603 1,806 1,822 1,728 
			  2006(1) 37,463 2,608 2,655 2,983 2,843 2,957 2,999 
			  
			 Depositing and leaving litter 2004 49 — — — — — — 
			  2005 737 32 47 56 54 75 73 
			  2006(1) 1,125 77 89 69 109 118 124 
		
	
	
		
			  Offence   Ju ly  Aug ust  Sep tember  Oct ober  Nov ember  December 
			 Drunk and disorderly 2004 — — — — 2,504 3,650 
			  2005 3,092 2,969 2,822 3,400 3,296 4,768 
			  2006(1) 3,481 3,441 3,545 3,753 3,304 4,806 
			 
			 Criminal Damage (under £500) 2004 — — — — 452 651 
			  2005 1,158 1,158 1,052 1,193 1,093 1,283 
			  2006(1) 1,746 1,919 1,806 1,778 1,579 1,776 
			 
			 Theft (retail under £200) 2004 — — — — 872 1,146 
			  2005 1,700 1,746 2,005 2,048 2,432 2,512 
			  2006(1) 2,722 3,148 3,346 3,498 3,873 3,831 
			 
			 Depositing and leaving litter 2004 — — — — 19 30 
			  2005 60 53 63 71 66 87 
			  2006(1) 87 77 108 104 87 76 
			 (1) Data on PNDs issued in 2006 are unpublished and provisional (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Homicide: Greater London

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded murders there were in each London borough in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of those recorded murders led to a conviction in each year, broken down by borough.

Vernon Coaker: The statistics are not available in the form requested. The recorded crime statistics relate to homicide offences and convictions data relates to offenders. In addition, recorded crime data are published on a financial year basis and conviction data are published on a calendar year basis. For these reasons, the two data sources are therefore not directly comparable.
	Figures for the number of offences recorded and the number of convictions are in the tables. Recorded crime data at borough level are only available from 2000-01.
	
		
			  Table 1: Recorded offences of homicide by London borough—2000-01 to 2005-06 
			  Borough  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Barking and Dagenham 4 2 3 4 8 4 
			 Barnet 8 4 5 2 5 4 
			 Bexley 3 2 2 0 2 3 
			 Brent 6 12 6 10 18 10 
			 Bromley 7 3 4 2 3 2 
			 Camden 7 10 16 1 8 22 
			 City of Westminster 8 8 9 6 5 8 
			 Croydon 3 7 6 12 10 10 
			 Ealing 8 9 9 6 8 8 
			 Enfield 2 6 6 6 12 6 
			 Greenwich 4 5 4 12 8 5 
			 Hackney 14 14 6 20 9 7 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 6 10 6 4 4 2 
			 Haringey 9 7 17 12 10 5 
			 Harrow 3 3 0 3 0 2 
			 Havering 5 3 1 6 0 2 
			 Hillingdon 2 2 5 6 2 3 
			 Hounslow 5 6 2 7 6 5 
			 Islington 11 9 3 5 7 2 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 4 3 3 1 9 4 
			 Kingston upon Thames 1 3 0 1 2 2 
			 Lambeth 13 17 15 12 10 7 
			 Lewisham 6 7 5 9 5 9 
			 Merton 3 2 3 2 0 3 
			 Newham 11 7 14 15 10 13 
			 Redbridge 5 3 5 8 4 6 
			 Richmond upon Thames 2 0 2 3 3 2 
			 Southwark 15 11 11 13 9 7 
			 Sutton 3 2 3 1 1 0 
			 Tower Hamlets 4 9 11 11 8 0 
			 Waltham Forest 4 5 7 9 5 7 
			 Wandsworth 3 11 6 2 4 5 
			 Total 189 202 195 211 195 175 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of defendants found guilty at all courts of homicide, broken down by London court area, 1996 to 2005( 1,)( )( 2,)( )( 3) 
			  London court Area  1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 City of London
			 Guildhall Justice Rooms 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			  Inner London Courts
			 Bow Street 2 1 4 3 5 8 3 3 3 5 4 
			 Camberwell Green/Tower Bridge 8 14 5 10 7 10 12 15 13 16 16 
			 Greenwich and Woolwich 2 4 10 14 5 7 3 9 8 6 11 
			 Highbury Corner 15 16 14 22 13 7 13 8 7 9 6 
			 Horseferry Road 2 3 3 3 2 4 1 6 2 6 9 
			 Marylebone 4 3 4 1 3 5 — — — — — 
			 South Western — 2 2 1 8 6 3 4 4 — 4 
			 Thames 2 — 1 1 5 11 12 7 7 15 13 
			 West London 2 2 6 4 4 4 2 6 8 2 10 
			 Inner London Juvenile Courts 1 6 1 — — — — — — — — 
			 Total - Inner London 38 51 50 59 52 62 49 58 52 59 73 
			 
			  Outer London Boroughs
			 Barking and Dagenham — — — 6 1 — 6 3 4 1 1 
			 Barnet 1 1 — 3 4 1 2 6 7 3 4 
			 Bexley — — — 1 1 1 — 2 1 — 4 
			 Brent 6 4 4 4 1 15 7 6 7 11 8 
			 Bromley 2 2 — 1 3 — 1 4 1 2 — 
			 Croydon 3 1 1 1 — 1 2 8 4 9 6 
			 Ealing 3 3 3 4 2 8 5 3 4 5 6 
			 Enfield 3  4 1 5 4 3 7 4 9 9 
			 Haringey 5 3 3 4 3 2 11 5 7 7 4 
			 Harrow — 1 — 2 1 2 1 — — 2 — 
			 Havering 1 — 2 — 1 2 3 — — 4 — 
			 Hillingdon 3 2 5 2 1 — 1 1 2 8 2 
			 Hounslow 2 — 3 7 6 7 1 1 3 1 7 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 4 — 1 — 2 1  4  4 1 
			 Merton 4 2 2 1 1 2 6  1 4 1 
			 Newham 2 3 2 5 6 4 4 8 3 11 12 
			 Redbridge 2 1 - 1 2 - 1 - 3 3 9 
			 Richmond upon Thames 1 — 2 3 1 1 1 — 1 — — 
			 Sutton — — — 1 — — 1 1 2 3 — 
			 Waltham Forest 3 3 1 5 — 1 7 3 4 4 3 
			 Total - Outer London 45 26 33 52 41 52 63 62 58 91 77 
			 
			 Total 83 77 83 111 93 114 112 120 110 151 150 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The data covers: murder, manslaughter and infanticide—provided to be consistent with recorded crime data provided for this PQ.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform — Ref IOS 210-07.

Ministerial Meetings

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Ministers or officials from his Department last met the chairs of local police committees.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary (John Reid) and I met with chairs of police authorities and with chief constables most recently at a seminar on police reform on two November 2006. I also attended the conference of the Association of Police Authorities, at which many chairs of police authorities were present, on 30 November 2006. I meet the APA on regular occasions and meet the chairs of local committees throughout the year in line with my duties as Police Minister.

Norwich Prison

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the health and safety of prisoners being held in A wing at HMP Norwich; what assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels at HMP Norwich; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: HMP/YOI Norwich has risk assessments and safe systems of work in place for all areas of the prison and for all activities. Part of A wing reopened in late January 2007 following up to date Health and Safety risk assessments and safe systems of work were put in place. Prior to occupation the cells were inspected personally by the Governor and confirmed as being appropriate and suitable cellular accommodation by the Eastern Area Manager. The remaining poor repair cellular accommodation in A wing is not occupied. Safe staffing levels have been agreed for the operation of the prison and for the daily operation of the re opened A wing facility four additional staff have been added to the complement.

Police: Cheshire

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) police officers and  (b) police community support officers were recruited in Cheshire in each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: The available data, for 2002-03 onwards, is in the tables.
	
		
			  Police officer recruits( 1)  to Cheshire police from 2002-03 to 2005-06( 2)  (FTE)( 3) 
			   Cheshire 
			 2002-03 141 
			 2003-04 153 
			 2004-05 105 
			 2005-06 121 
			 (1) Recruits included those officers joining as standard direct recruits and those who were previously special constables. This excludes police officers on transfers from other forces and those rejoining. (2) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive. Data are not available prior to 2002-03. (3) Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 
		
	
	
		
			  Police  c ommunity  s upport  o fficer  r ecruits( 1)  to Cheshire police from 2002-03 to 2005-06( 2)  (FTE)( 3) 
			   Cheshire 
			 2002-03 2 
			 2003-04 26 
			 2004-05 12 
			 2005-06 14 
			 (1) Recruits included those officers joining as standard direct recruits and those who were previously special constables. This excludes police community support officers on transfers from other forces and those rejoining. (2) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive. Data are not available prior to 2002-03. (3) Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items.

Police: Manpower

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many former police officers rejoined the police force in England and Wales in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

Tony McNulty: The available data are from 2002-03 onwards and are in the table.
	
		
			  Police officer retainers (FTE)( 1)  by force from 2002-03 to 2005-06( 2) 
			   2002-03  2003-04( 3)  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Avon and Somerset 1 0 0 0 
			 Bedfordshire 5 2 0 3 
			 Cambridgeshire 8 9 8 5 
			 Cheshire 2 1 2 0 
			 Cleveland 1 0 1 2 
			 Cumbria 4 1 0 1 
			 Derbyshire 19 0 13 20 
			 Devon and Cornwall 6 0 1 11 
			 Dorset 0 1 1 7 
			 Durham 0 2 0 0 
			 Dyfed-Powys 0 n/a 0 3 
			 Essex 9 30 4 7 
			 Gloucestershire 4 0 0 5 
			 Greater Manchester 0 17 35 29 
			 Gwent 0 1 13 17 
			 Hampshire 6 3 19 14 
			 Hertfordshire 5 4 2 1 
			 Humberside 6 3 3 32 
			 Kent 1 10 7 15 
			 Lancashire 5 1 1 0 
			 Leicestershire 5 2 10 11 
			 Lincolnshire 5 1 2 4 
			 London, City of 1 2 2 1 
			 Merseyside 0 0 1 0 
			 Metropolitan Police 46 69 113 100 
			 Norfolk 8 0 0 5 
			 Northamptonshire 1 0 0 1 
			 Northumbria 0 8 1 10 
			 North Wales 0 0 1 8 
			 North Yorkshire 1 n/a 0 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 1 1 20 
			 South Wales 22 4 0 32 
			 South Yorkshire 0 6 11 18 
			 Staffordshire 7 13 15 2 
			 Suffolk 1 0 0 10 
			 Surrey 9 4 4 8 
			 Sussex 4 8 2 11 
			 Thames Valley 8 7 18 18 
			 Warwickshire 1 4 1 3 
			 West Mercia 2 3 14 11 
			 West Midlands 23 15 13 9 
			 West Yorkshire 4 3 9 17 
			 Wiltshire 2 5 1 3 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive. (3) Data are not available for Dyfed-Powys and North Yorkshire.

Prisoners Release: Acquittals

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial and other assistance is available to those who are released from prison having been on remand and are found to be innocent.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Remand prisoners are eligible for all induction and resettlement programmes within the prisons and are able to access practical support to effectively help them re-integrate back in the community.
	Currently there is no financial scheme that covers such prisoners. However, remand prisoners are entitled to travel warrants and in some cases to housing benefit and council tax benefit and mortgage interest for a limited time.

Rape: Greater London

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded rapes there were in each London borough in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of those recorded rapes led to a conviction in each year, broken down by borough.

Vernon Coaker: The statistics are not available in the form requested. Recorded rape statistics relate to offences and convictions data relates to offenders. In addition, recorded crime data are published on a financial year basis and conviction data are published on a calendar year basis. For these reasons, the two data sources are therefore not directly comparable.
	Figures for the number of offences recorded and the number of convictions are provided in the tables. Recorded crime data at borough level are available only from 2000-01.
	
		
			  Table 1: Recorded offences of rape by London borough 2000-01 and 2001-02 
			  Borough  2000-01  2001-02 
			 Barking and Dagenham 48 53 
			 Barnet 48 62 
			 Bexley 32 53 
			 Brent 119 105 
			 Bromley 48 62 
			 Camden 91 96 
			 City of Westminster 114 112 
			 Croydon 102 109 
			 Ealing 98 93 
			 Enfield 58 76 
			 Greenwich 80 94 
			 Hackney 103 108 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 66 57 
			 Haringey 95 118 
			 Harrow 34 38 
			 Havering 19 35 
			 Hillingdon 31 55 
			 Hounslow 48 71 
			 Islington 72 109 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 34 32 
			 Kingston upon Thames 27 37 
			 Lambeth 163 172 
			 Lewisham 105 115 
			 Merton 19 38 
			 Newham 115 93 
			 Redbridge 38 63 
			 Richmond upon Thames 28 24 
			 Southwark 115 129 
			 Sutton 20 22 
			 Tower Hamlets 78 76 
			 Waltham Forest 74 85 
			 Wandsworth 65 97 
			 Total 2,187 2,489 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 : Recorded offences of rape by London borough 200 2-03  to 2005-06 
			  Borough  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Barking and Dagenham 70 56 74 66 
			 Barnet 60 84 84 70 
			 Bexley 43 31 48 36 
			 Brent 87 129 99 97 
			 Bromley 70 47 57 54 
			 Camden 71 52 68 67 
			 City of Westminster 131 119 113 102 
			 Croydon 99 72 90 113 
			 Ealing 107 96 77 101 
			 Enfield 91 83 74 72 
			 Greenwich 119 116 99 120 
			 Hackney 101 118 132 136 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 74 96 63 56 
			 Haringey 113 91 99 110 
			 Harrow 29 45 50 37 
			 Havering 32 51 30 49 
			 Hillingdon 57 58 52 45 
			 Hounslow 70 65 75 71 
			 Islington 135 97 93 76 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 43 42 36 42 
			 Kingston upon Thames 50 45 37 42 
			 Lambeth 166 126 146 139 
			 Lewisham 150 132 96 85 
			 Merton 44 39 45 39 
			 Newham 152 142 151 112 
			 Redbridge 69 54 72 46 
			 Richmond upon Thames 22 14 22 20 
			 Southwark 141 163 126 126 
			 Sutton 30 27 31 39 
			 Tower Hamlets 105 96 85 85 
			 Waltham Forest 87 87 55 84 
			 Wandsworth 109 96 64 61 
			 Total 2,727 2,569 2,443 2,398 
			  Note:  The National Crime Recording standard was introduced in April 2002. Figures for earlier years are therefore not directly comparable. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Number of defendants found guilty at all courts of rape, broken down by London Court Area, 1996 to 2005( 1,)( )( 2,)( )( 3) 
			   1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			  City of London   
			 Guildhall Justice Rooms — — — — — — 1 — — — 
			
			  Inner London Courts   
			 Bow Street — 1 3 1 4 1 2 1 3 — 
			 Camberwell Green/Tower Bridge 16 8 7 15 12 11 11 16 12 14 
			 Greenwich and Woolwich 4 4 8 6 8 10 10 11 13 7 
			 Highbury Corner 11 8 9 3 7 5 5 9 19 10 
			 Horseferry Road 5 2 3 2 4 3 2 5 1 3 
			 Marylebone 1 2 3 2 3 3 — — — — 
			 South western 3 6 1 3 1 6 4 5 3 4 
			 Thames — 2 2 7 7 10 8 3 5 11 
			 West London 1 5 2 1 4 4 5 7 4 7 
			 Inner London Juvenile Courts — 9 3 — — — — — — — 
			 Total—Inner London 41 46 38 39 46 52 45 56 57 56 
			
			  Outer London   
			 Barking and Dagenham 1 1 2 1 2 2 5 2 8 2 
			 Barnet 1 3 3 4 1 4 3 4 2 1 
			 Bexley 3 — 3 — — 2 2 2 1 4 
			 Brent 3 5 5 2 6 2 6 1 2 9 
			 Bromley 2 — 2 — — — 2 2 1 5 
			 Croydon 5 2 3 6 — 4 7 5 6 8 
			 Ealing 3 6 7 6 4 3 2 2 6 — 
			 Enfield 1 3 2 1 1 4 1 10 4 2 
			 Haringey 6 1 5 7 5 3 5 6 3 5 
			 Harrow 2 1 3 — 3 1 3 2 1 2 
			 Havering — 1 1 1 — — — — 2 1 
			 Hillingdon — 2 2 — 3 — 1 4 2 1 
			 Hounslow 5 1 — 1 1 — 2 3 4 7 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames — — 1 — 1 1 4 1 2 3 
			 Merton 1 — — — 2 — 3 2 1 2 
			 Newham 6 7 5 — 4 1 8 15 2 4 
			 Redbridge 1 3 3 — 3 — 4 1 2 — 
			 Richmond upon Thames 2 — 1 — 1 — 3 1 2 2 
			 Sutton — 1 4 — — — — — 2 2 
			 Waltham Forest 4 4 2 2 5 4 5 5 7 3 
			 Total—Outer London 46 41 54 31 42 31 66 68 60 63 
			
			 Total 87 87 92 70 88 83 112 124 117 119 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis.  (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  (3) Rape includes rape of a female and rape of a male.

World War II: Education

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent in supporting education on the Holocaust in  (a) schools and  (b) the community in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
	Data on expenditure by schools to support education on the Holocaust are not collected centrally. However a grant of £3 million, administered by the Department, has been made to subsidise the Holocaust Educational Trust's "Lessons from Auschwitz" programme between April 2006 and March 2008. The programme aims to achieve the participation of two post-16 students from every school and 6th form college in visits to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Other Departments also fund activities relating to Holocaust education.

Biofuels

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will estimate the carbon savings resulting from the growing of bio-fuels on land which had previously been  (a) used to grow food crops and  (b) set aside or unused; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Government have funded a number of studies to consider environmental impacts and benefits of biofuels, including Life Cycle Assessments. Carbon savings vary depending on a number of factors including the crop used and the way it is cultivated, previous land use, the transport used and the processing and conversion process.
	A DEFRA-funded project is currently under way to develop a software tool to address the main environmental issues associated with bio-energy technologies. This will include a quantitative assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings by using a land use reference system which includes "set-aside" and "food cropland". The tool will be available later this year.
	The Government are also developing a comprehensive carbon and sustainability reporting scheme under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. This will require suppliers wishing to claim credits for their biofuels to provide information on the GHG saving and wider sustainability characteristics of those fuels. The GHG calculation methodology includes previous land use in addition to emissions from cultivation, transportation and processing and conversion.

Domestic Wastes: Norfolk

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 16 April 2007,  Official Report, columns 77-80W, on domestic waste, on what basis the borough council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk was included in the list.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 27 April 2007
	 In a recent survey commissioned by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the response received from King's Lynn and West Norfolk borough council indicated that the council operates an alternate week refuse and recycling service.
	However, on clarification, it appears the council misunderstood the use of the term 'alternate weekly collection'.
	WRAP are currently reviewing their list of authorities providing an alternate weekly collection service and will be publishing an amended version shortly.

Lighting

Bruce George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will consider exempting people with light sensitivity conditions from proposals to phase out the sale of incandescent light bulbs.

Ian Pearson: The Government are exploring how various groups may be affected by the phasing out of inefficient light-bulbs. It is important that any unintended impacts are mitigated.

Power Stations: Carbon Emissions

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what change there has been in carbon dioxide emissions from power generation since the programmed closure of older nuclear power stations began; how the power generated by those stations has been replaced; and what net change there has been in carbon dioxide emissions as a result of the replacement generation.

Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
	Since 2000, six older nuclear power stations with a total generation capacity of approximately 2 GW have closed. Total carbon dioxide emissions from the power generation sector over the same period (2000-05) have increased by nearly 5 million tonnes of carbon. The level of carbon emissions from the power sector depend on a number of factors, including the level of demand and the wholesale electricity price; which is underpinned by the price of fossil fuels and the price of carbon in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
	The impact of the closure of nuclear power stations on emissions will depend on the assumptions about the stations which have replaced them. If the capacity has been replaced by generation technologies that emit carbon (such as gas-fired generation, for example) then it is likely that the closure of the older nuclear capacity will have contributed to the rise in carbon emissions from the power sector between 2000 and 2005.

Wood: China

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what procedures are in place to ensure that hardwood products imported from China are not made from timber that has been illegally felled in Indonesia; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ensure that imports of hardwood finished goods to the EU from China have been sourced from sustainable timber in  (a) the Far East and  (b) other countries.

Barry Gardiner: Currently there is no measure available to the UK to stop forest products being imported on the grounds that some or all of the timber used in their manufacture may not have met the laws of a third country.
	However, the Indonesian Government has banned the export of round logs and most categories of rough sawn timber, as a measure to help tackle illegal logging within its borders.
	To introduce more effective measures, Indonesia is negotiating a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU. This would allow member states to ban imports of timber directly from Indonesia which have not been licensed by the Indonesian Government as legally harvested. The UK Department for International Development is actively supporting these negotiations. This Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) agreement, as currently proposed, would not stop Indonesian companies from exporting timber to third party countries, such as China, that do not have FLEGT type agreements with Indonesia. While the Indonesian Government has indicated that it intends to require timber exports to all countries to meet the same legality requirements as those specified under the VPA, the potential for circumvention remains a matter of concern. One solution might be the inclusion of an obligation on FLEGT partner countries to report on levels of timber imports and exports and actions taken to prevent circumvention.
	The European Commission recently completed a public consultation exercise on options for additional measures. The UK has indicated particular interest in proposals for a new regulation which would make it a crime in a member state, to trade in products which contain or were manufactured from timber that had been illegally harvested, regardless of country of origin. It is important to stress that currently these options are presented in outline; the European Commission have made no formal proposal to the Council of Ministers. A great deal of detailed work must be done to ensure that any future legal instrument represents good and enforceable law.

Health Professions: Training

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost has been of the generic skills study days organised by the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency.

Paul Goggins: The cost of the generic skills study day came to £68,610, which was met within existing NIMDTA resources.

Medicine: Students

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage change in the bursaries that  (a) nursing,  (b) midwifery,  (c) medical,  (d) dental and  (e) allied health professional students received there was in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Table one shows the national health service bursary rates for the basic awards, not including additional allowances, for the period 1997 to 2008 and the annual percentage increases. The majority of nurses and midwives receive the non-means tested bursary. Medical and dental students and the majority of allied health professional students receive the means-tested NHS bursary. The NHS bursary scheme has supported allied health professional students since 1998 and medical and dental undergraduate students since September 2002 from their fifth and subsequent years of study. During the first four years' of study, medical and dental students receive support under the Department for Education and Skills regulations.
	In addition to the basic NHS bursary awards there are a number of other allowances.
	
		
			  Basic NHS bursary rates for academic years 1997-98 to 2007-08 
			   1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03 
			  Degree   
			 London n/a 2,225 2,280 2,335 2,578 2,640 
			 Elsewhere n/a 1,810 1,855 11,900 2,098 2,148 
			 Parental Home n/a 11,480 1,515 1,555 l,717 1,758 
			  Diploma   
			 London 5,230 5,374 5,508 5,645 6,232 6,382 
			 Elsewhere 4,450 4,572 4,686 4,805 5,305 5,432 
			 % Increase on previous year — 2.75 2.5 2.4 10.4 2.4 
		
	
	
		
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			  Degree  
			 London 2,703 2,768 2,837 2,908 2,976 
			 Elsewhere 2,200 2,253 2,309 2,367 2,422 
			 Parental Home 1,800 l,843 1,889 1,963 2,009 
			  Diploma  
			 London 6,535 6,692 6,859 7,030 7,194 
			 Elsewhere 5,562 5,695 5,837 5,983 6,122 
			 % Increase on previous year 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.33 
		
	
	
		
			  Basic NHS bursary rates for academic 2007-08 for new students 
			   2007-08 
			  Degree  
			 London 13,215 
			 Elsewhere 2,672 
			 Parental Home 2,231 
			  Diploma  
			 London 7,443 
			 Elsewhere 6,372 
		
	
	Table two shows national health service bursary rates for the basic awards, not including additional allowances, for new students who commence their course on or after 1 September 2007.
	Changes from September 2007 have been made to modernise the current scheme. This has allowed for the redistribution of funds to provide; an increase in the basic allowance and a new parents' learning allowance.

Members: Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects the Minister of State to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, on Co-proxmal.

Caroline Flint: The letter was answered on 30 April 2007.

NHS: Working Hours

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her statement of 10 January 2007,  Official Report, columns 314-15, which problems in the NHS arise from the previous Government's negotiation of the European working time directive; and how they differ from the additional problems driven by the impact of the SiMAP and Jaegear judgments.

Rosie Winterton: More engagement in the working time directive negotiations from the outset would have most likely resulted in a better directive and safeguards against legal challenges such as SiMAP and Jaeger.
	The retention of the opt-out and a solution to the problems caused by the SiMAP and Jaeger judgments still remain priorities for the United Kingdom, and together with many member states we continue to seek changes to the European working time directive to address the difficulties from these judgments.